Heartbeat
by RadiantBeam
Summary: Saya can still feel her heartbeat. Saya x Kaori Oneshot, companion to Stray, slightly AU


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Blood+, I never will.

**Author's Note: **This was inspired by my Kaori/Saya one-shot Stray and is somewhat a continuation of it (kind of, in a darker sense). You don't have to neccessarily read Stray to get what's happening, but it might help avoid some minor confusion.

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**Heartbeat**

Her dark eyes gaze into Saya's; there is no anger in their depths, no hatred, no fear. Kaori Kinjo was never the kind of girl to hate anyone, never the kind to fear anything. It is a trait born of being of Diva's blood but being abandoned from the beginning, and serving another master.

"_It's the only way, Saya. You know it is."_

It's a cruel trick, Saya thinks weakly as she slashes her finger on the sword and blood runs down the blade and drips to the grass below. It's all a cruel, cruel trick devised long ago by some god she cannot see. Everything has led up to this moment, but she was too blind to see it.

"_Diva grows weaker as she loses her Chevaliers. She's already lost Karl and James. Now she loses one more."_

Haji is standing off to the side, his dark hair slicked down by the rain that is falling and his eyes as unreadable as ever; but his hands are twitching, his whole body is shaking as he fights the urge to speak up, to stop the slaughter that is about to take place.

Saya can feel her heart pounding against her ribs, and she wonders why no one else seems to hear it.

_--They know, somehow, that tonight is the last night and that tomorrow everything is shot to hell, but they don't do what they've seen people in the movies do because they're not like that. Their lives might be something out of a horror movie, but what they feel and think and believe in is not and it's enough for them as Saya nuzzles the crook of Kaori's neck as the other girl leans back into her, and Saya feels her heartbeat, slow and steady.—_

The rain is falling harder and harder, and Saya angrily brushes loose, wet strands of dark hair out of her eyes to see better—and only wishes to be blind when she sees Kaori is still there in front of her, patiently waiting, her eyes still so calm, so gentle, so damn _accepting._

But then, perhaps, Kaori knew all along this would happen. Hell, the only person who seems caught unaware by the whole thing is Saya herself.

"_Saya, please…"_

Saya's cheeks are wet and her eyes burn and sting, but she can't tell if it's from the rain, her tears, or quite possibly both (she thinks it's the third option). She trembles; her hands tighten on the hilt and she closes her eyes, charging forward.

She doesn't see the blade pierce Kaori's chest; she doesn't see the blood splatter onto the grass, onto her hands. She only opens her eyes when Kaori whimpers in pain, begins to sag forward, and without thinking Saya pulls her close, sinking to her knees.

And the rain is still falling, the damn rain, and Saya _knows _her tears are somewhere in the mix.

"_Shit, shit, no, Kaori don't leave me, please oh God don't leave me…"_

Blood is dripping down Kaori's chin, and with a soft sob Saya turns her head and nuzzles the crook of the other girl's neck, much like she always has, ignoring the cracks beginning to web along her dark skin.

And Saya knows she's supposed to be happy, she's supposed to be satisfied, because she's just killed a Chevalier of Diva's blood, but all she feels is pain and sorrow and _"Oh God Kaori please open your eyes please…"_

For a single moment Saya feels an explosion of pain in her chest, she sees red and her whole world darkens, and she wonders if her heart has stopped.

But no; she can still hear the rain, can still feel it falling on her skin and in her hair and Kaori has gone limp in her arms _"Thank you… Saya…"_

Kaori's just been killed, and she's thanking the one who killed her. God, irony.

On another soft sob, not particularly in her right mind, Saya gives in to age old instinct and sinks her teeth into Kaori's neck, though she knows deep down that Kaori is dead and gone and her blood has lost its potency in death, but blood still fills her mouth and slides down her throat and all Saya can taste is fire, a dim, dying fire that no longer carries its killing edge.

Saya can still feel her heartbeat, though her soul lies dead in her arms.

And somewhere far away, Diva frowns as another voice in her head fades away into quiet oblivion.

**The End**

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Um... yeah.

I dunno, I was just re-reading Stray and thought "What if?" so I went and wrote this in, like, two minutes. It's kind of a dark version to a twisted Saya/Kaori love story I have in my head, so... yeah.

Read and review, please!


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